Daily Human Digest
Every day, the staff of the Genetic Literacy Project scours the Web for stories on a range of human genetics issues, including gene editing, regulations and bioethics, gene therapy, epigenetics, personal genomics, evolution, ancestry and artificial intelligence. We publish excerpts of those stories and encourage our readers to visit the original publications for the complete stories.
Quirky DeepSeek: A look under the hood of China’s clever new open-source search engine
DeepSeek’s success and a technical paper it published last week suggest that Chinese AI developers can match their U.S. counterparts ...
How AI is trying to figure out the cause of the LA fires
What’s shaping up to be one of the worst wildfire disasters in US history had many causes. Before the blazes raged ...
Here are all the health benefits of Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs
With the use of [drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists] spiking in recent years, a ...
‘Devastation’ and ‘panic’: Trump guts key government support for National Institute of Health programs
Confusion and anxiety is rippling through the US health-research community ... following Donald Trump taking office as the 47th US ...
ARCUS breakthrough: An advanced gene editing tool appears to have cured an infant of an early onset metabolic disorder
A little-known gene editor, tested with help from a disgraced gene therapist seeking redemption, may have cured a 1-year-old boy ...
Microdosing Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs to save money and reduce side effects is a hot fad. Does it work?
A new trend gaining popularity among people trying to lose weight is microdosing the diabetes medication Ozempic. With approximately 70% ...
The carnivore myth? One study challenges the long-held belief that our human ancestors were mostly meat eaters
[E]arly human ancestors, specifically Australopithecus africanus, primarily had a plant-based diet despite previous evidence suggesting meat consumption. The research, led ...
How AI is being used to create new drugs and vaccines
A £225m supercomputer is using artificial intelligence (AI) to develop new drugs and vaccines. When it is fully operational this ...
5 hot new trends for AI in 2025
[W]hat’s coming in 2025 [in AI]? We’re going to ignore the obvious here: You can bet that agents and smaller, ...
Human DNA found in some vegetarian hot dogs
Is it true that a study found that some hot dog brands contained human DNA? Hot dogs haven't received much ...
‘Evolution Evolving’: New book suggests a rethink of how evolution works
It’s rare that researchers question theories that make up the backbone of whole fields. But in Evolution Evolving, Kevin Lala ...
Eating disorders in young people linked to genetics and delayed brain maturation
Over half of 23-year-olds display restrictive, emotional, or uncontrolled eating behaviors, with delayed brain maturation playing a significant role. The ...
Video: ‘Dragon Man’—What did our Denisovan ancestors look like 150,000 years ago?
Scientists have reconstructed the face of a long-lost human ancestor that may have played a critical role in our evolution ...
One out of three people are likely to develop dementia as they age. Here are 15 ways science can help slow or prevent the process
A disturbing [study] has predicted that new cases of dementia will double by 2060, estimating that 1 million adults will develop the ...
A million years ago some early humans lived in extremely hot and arid desert climes that few animals could survive
An early human ancestor of our species successfully navigated harsher and more arid terrains for longer in Eastern Africa than ...
Viewpoint: Are warnings on alcoholic drinks necessary? Will they save lives?
Will Cancer Warnings on Alcoholic Beverages Save Lives? Maybe, but probably far fewer than public health officials hope. Here’s why ...
Paper chase crisis: Academic journals are besieged by AI-generated editorials and commentaries designed to pump up CVs, undermining their quality
On [22 October 2024], an unusual editorial appeared in the journal Neurosurgical Review. “We have made the difficult decision to ...
Disaster economy: Wellness industry hucksters peddling detox potions, parasite cleanses, raw milk and other quack remedies to distraught victims
As wildfires continue to burn all around Los Angeles, influencers have emerged to promote sales of their own, highly specific ...
The pronatalist movement: Should women be encouraged to have more children?
Pronatalism, literally meaning pro-birth, is a broad ideological movement driven by concern that the world is no longer producing enough ...
Are there different types of intelligence? Yes, and AI can tell you which form you have
In [a] study published in PNAS Nexus, scientists have demonstrated that artificial intelligence can predict different types of human intelligence ...
Anxious about mRNA technology? Here’s what you need to know
When mRNA vaccines emerged as heroes during the COVID-19 pandemic, headlines heralded them as a revolutionary new technology. Many people ...
Lucy, our plodding ancestor
Ancient human relatives ran on two legs, like modern humans, but at a much slower pace, [suggesting] 3D computer simulations ...
Bizarre bedfellows: Far right Heritage Foundation leads conservative movement’s cautious embrace of RFK Jr.’s anti-government, anti-corporate MAHA campaign
During a panel discussion at the Heritage Foundation event, entrepreneur Calley Means, a fan of [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] and an ...
IVF mixup: What’s to be done if your child gets switched with another at birth—and you don’t find out till years later
In the days after Daphna Cardinale delivered her second child, she experienced a rare sense of calm and wonder. The ...
Non-trivial AI evolution
What will humans be like generations from now in a world transformed by artificial intelligence (AI)? Plenty of thinkers have ...
Filling an ecological niche in a post-human world’: Why octopuses could succeed humans as Earth’s dominant species
[S]peculative fiction author Ray Nayler published "The Mountain in the Sea," his first novel, depicting a not-too-distant future in which ...
Worse than Darth Vader disease: Rare genetic disorder leads to chronic insomnia and eventual death
Fatal familial insomnia, a rare genetic disease that causes sleeping difficulties, dementia, and involuntary muscle twitching, has no cure and ...
